


Shadowborn

by TheArchitect813



Series: Alarix [1]
Category: OC - Fandom
Genre: Action/Adventure, Fantasy, Magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 13:27:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13881807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheArchitect813/pseuds/TheArchitect813
Summary: First work on Archive of Our Own, suggestions and feedback welcome!I'll try my best to post regularly but it probably won't work out that way. :(-Arc





	Shadowborn

Blackness. All he knew was blackness, and the dark. He remembered a warmth, an inkling of friendship. But he was alone now. It seemed he was always alone now. No one was there to comfort him like that single warmth he remembered. No one was ever there. Floating on the black waves of the dark, how could anyone’s warmth reach him? He was cold. So cold.

 

_Run!_

_A dark figure burst through the trees, relentlessly chasing its unwilling prey._

_Run!_

_A small figure dashed away, every breath was a grueling task, the air escaping from his lungs like so many fireflies would escape from a child’s jar._

_RUN!_

_A savage snarl sounded behind him, eliciting a whimper from the young boy._

_RUN, RUN, RUN!_

_The beast’s hot breath and spittle hit the child's nape, and a large snout knocked him to the ground._

_Crying out in pain, the boy hit the ground, bruises already spreading along his body. A muscular, taloned paw scratched three deep streaks of blood across the boy’s back and side, and the force of it turned him over. Belly exposed to the beast, the boy cried out in fear and pain as a terrifying snout grew closer to the child._

_His blood curdling scream was cut short by the terror in the forest._

 

He thought he saw an amber light, once. But then, he thought he wasn't alone once. How did he know what was light though? Had he once seen? Had he once been free of this dark ocean?

No, that was unlikely. This blackness was all he knew.

 

_Children's songs cut through the fog, their singers oblivious to the dangers of the forest._

_The eerie fog only served to heighten the girls’ sense of adventure. Yet they were unaware._

_A snarl echoed back to them through the trees. Two more victims._

_A savage beast, and screams of pain._

_The sounds of a wild chase were muffled by the thick fog and trees._

_A dead end, and one dead. Another, and a feast for a terrible creature._

_A triumphant howl sounded through the trees._

 

The blackness was thick, like a heavy blanket of fog. Lost in his thoughts, he drifted, cold and alone.

What was this place anyway? It didn't seem to be physical, it was more like a dream. No, a nightmare. But it was all he knew.

 

_A scream sounded loudly throughout the forest. A young girl spun around towards it, terrified. Her hair swung around and hit her opposite cheek. The trees, ancient and foreboding, were silent. She felt she wasn't alone, but the silence told otherwise._

 

Screams sounded in his ears, and echoed around his personal void. He started. _‘What was that?’_

 

_She slowly backed away from the trees, and further into the clearing. She knew it was stupid to be out in the open, and that she should head into the trees, but her fear kept her away from the shadows under the canopy._

 

He saw flashes of trees, and of bright red blood splattered among them, and he would’ve widened his eyes if he could feel them, if he could see. _‘Blood... Those must’ve been the screams…’_

 

_She heard a twig snap in the gloom, and she imagined red glowing eyes staring at her, ready to devour her whole. But they weren’t there. Just the ominous trees._

 

He could see trees surrounding a clearing, where is vantage point was. Looking around, he saw the darkness of his void between the stout trunks. He heard the terrible growling of a beast in the void, and he remembered what fear felt like. He hadn’t known it in his darkness.

 

_She backed away faster from the trees when a growl sounded in them. Should she turn to run, exposing her back to the thing that waited for her, or should she move towards it and probably meet with her doom? Her decision was made for her when the snout pushed aside foliage to move closer to her. She couldn’t control herself. She bolted._

 

He could see a creature stalking into the clearing in which he seemed to stand. Its snout was dark with black, coarse fur, only broken by fresh, pink scars, and its features. He guessed the scars were still new, as it hadn’t yet scabbed over. The thing’s black nostrils puffed hot breath, which the wind blew back in its face, which was caked in old blood. It let loose a guttural howl, and it ran past its silent watcher and into the trees on the other side of the clearing.

 

_Branches whipped at her face and many small cuts appeared on her skin. Droplets of blood streaked the dry leaves she crushed underfoot. A loud howl sounded behind her and tears fell from her eyes to mix with the blood and leaves._ ‘Why did I have to run?’ _This question repeated itself in her mind, and she deeply regretted even venturing into the forest._

 

He decided to give chase to the thing as it dashed after whatever it chased. A single thought propelled him above its head and kept pace with it. He looked on the leaves it was crushing, and saw more blood on the ground. Curious, he sped ahead to find a young girl running with tears streaking down her face.

 

_Hot breath hit her neck and gave her another burst of adrenaline through her veins. Her legs didn't seem to tire, but her lungs were burning with exertion. A root seemed to snake into her path, and she tripped on it with a terrified scream. She could hear the beast’s triumphant growls and snorts growing closer to her neck. She flipped over, at least wanting to know what was going to kill her._

 

The girl tripped, and the creature stalked up to her prone body. She bravely flipped onto her back to face it, and her eyes widened at its visage. The razor sharp teeth, the blood caked snout, and the vicious claws, gleaming with the blood of its most recent victims, and the mud and dirt it chased her through. It raised a paw, and drew it back to swipe at the girl’s helpless form. She closed her eyes, and a single tear fell from her lashes. Helpless to do anything to help her, the spectator wished and hoped that the beast would stop right there and just leave, but of course, that was impossible. It had her scent and had given chase. All that was left was for it to finish the hunt.

 

_The girl’s final tear touched down on the leaves she lie on and the beast pounced on her with a snarl. A whimper escaped from her mouth as its crushing weight bore down on her. She could smell her own blood leaking from where its claws cut into her arms, pinning her down. She waited for the end._

_But it didn’t come._

_The weight lifted from her body._

 

Miraculously, the beast stepped off her and stalked away as if she no longer existed. A single eye cracked open to see it leave her line of sight. It soon departed into the black fog beyond the trees.

 

_Eyes widening, the girl cried more, but this time, they were tears of relief. She dared not stay here long in case the thing changed its mind. She stumbled to her feet and limped off in the opposite way it had left. Sometime afterwards, she thought she heard it behind her, and adrenaline pushed her towards the edge of the forest. When she thought it had given up its chase, she continued limping until she reached the edge of the forest, and she lie down in a nearby meadow under the shade of a single tree._

 

Concerned for her, the spectator followed her until she reached the edge of the trees, but he could see no further. Everything beyond the forest was shadows. When he tried to move on, some strange tether kept him in the forest with the dark beast. The small warmth any other living presence gave him quickly left him when he realized he would probably never see her again. The forest melted back into darkness.

**Author's Note:**

> First work on Archive of Our Own, suggestions and feedback welcome!  
> I'll try my best to post regularly but it probably won't work out that way. :(  
> -Arc


End file.
